Ship Classes
Of the many ships in /v/lancer, each one can be filed under a certain ship type, and a ship class. No one ship is neccesarily better than another, each one is outfitted to a specific role. When picking a ship, be sure to remember what you'll be doing as a freelancer, as some ships are more suited towards tradan, fightan, exploran, etc. Ship Types A ship type can be thought of as your species, race, etc. It determines the look of your ship, and its initial stats, there are 10 ship types in /v/lancer. Liberty Ships American ships all make some effort to look like an eagle, so lots of ornate wings and beaks and all that jazz. Liberty Ships have increased energy and speed, but at the cost of a few points of health and shielding. Bretonian Ships British ships look like either fish or bubbles, depending on how you view things. they have heavy armor and energy, but lack suitable speed. Kusari Ships Just because you're a weeaboo doesn't mean you should fly Japanese ships, even if they are OMG SO KAWAII. Kusari ships have more energy and nanobots/batteries than most ships, good speed, but lack firepower and armor. Rheinland Ships German ships are like their automobiles, they have better guns. Ships made from Glorious Germany have tons of firepower, but lack energy and nanobots. Pirate Ships Meant for the role of catching and killing highly armored ships quickly, Pirate ships have superior speed and firepower, but otherwise lack energy, armor, nanobots, and thus can die if you aren't careful. Corsair Ships Corsair ships could best be described as tanks, high firepower and armor coupled with a suitable lack of speed. Good for those who prefer power over speed. Border World (Outcast) Ships Like Corsair ships, Outcast ships fill the role of tanks, albeit with low damage in return for high energy and nanobots. Civillian ships To be honest, they kind of suck in combat, Civillians aren't made to fight, but just to stay alive. They make good tradeships overall. 'Broski Enterprise Ships' The most mysterious and unusual of all the ship types, Broski Enterprise ships have the unusual aspect of having no gun slots whatsoever, instead only being able to mount torpedos, their larger ships are also able to carry many more people than any other ship would. Special (Misc.) Ships Any ship that doesn't fall into the previous 9 categories goes here, Star Wars ships, the Viper, some battleships, etc. Most special ships have initial stats then special abilities, immunity to radiation, extra healing abilities, double thrusters, faster cruise charging time, etc. Player Flyable Ship Classes If you can buy it, you can fly it. Ship classes determine the role of the actual ship, what it's loadout will be, and overall stats. There are classes of ships overall. Light Fighters The fastest ship class, light fighters will always have the ability to outfly any other ship class. This is balanced by the fact that they lack armor and high powered weapons. However in the hands of a skilled pilot, a light fight can do serious damage, and is the best ship class. Heavy Fighters A suitable balance between speed and firepower/armor, Heavy Fighters fill the role of intermediate class, able to outfly heavier ships, but also match them in firepower. A good choice for those learning the ropes of Brolancing. Very Heavy Fighters They're like Heavy Fighters, but even heavier. VHFs can be thought of as the tank class of fighters, high firepower and armor, offset by shitty flight abilities and speed. Many veterans choose to fly these simply for the damage they can dish out in the right situation. Bombers Similar to VHFs, in fact they share the same armor and speed loadouts usually, however unlike VHFs, they rely mostly on torpedos, nukes, and missiles, Bombers are meant to do heavy damage to large objects as well as slow/stupid fighters, a bomber in the hands of a smart man is a deadly little fighter indeed. Some VHFs, like the sabre and the chimaera, have Bomber variants. You can usually identify a bomber by it having an extra torpedo mount at the cost of gun mounts; an example of this being the sabre bomber trading the two class 9 gun mounts of the fighter for an extra torpedo mount. Then you have your Broski Bombers (Broski Enterprise Ships), which trades all gun mounts for extra torpedo slots. These ships are bulky and are usually ineffective against regular fighters, but are powerful against slow & stationary targets, such as most capital ships and bosses. Gunboats The first of the two 'capital' class ships, gunboats are heavy armored, heavy firepower, and slow as shit, like, seriously, seriously, slow. Unlike their cruiser counterparts, Gunboats are more suited towards taking down bombers and most fighters, but can still go toe to toe with heavier things like bosses and battleships. They also have the ability to cloak, while cloaked most hostiles will ignore you but you cannot use your weapons. Cloaking shuts down your shields momentarly. Even while cloaked, police factions will still scan you for contraband. Cruisers Because it's a SPACE FIGHTER game, Cruisers generally aren't well approved of. Yes, cruisers can do serious damage, but all their laser classes are slow, bulky, and only truly meant for taking down other capital ships and bosses. The only truly cool part is that totally bitching forward firing cannon they all have. Freighters Unlike fighters, freighters have no guns, only turrets. Even so, they are perfect for Broventures, as well as trading. They do have the chance to do some nice damage. Transports Transports are basically a cross between cruisers and freighters, they're bulky, slow, but can hold a buttfuckload of cargo. While normally not that strong, in the right situation, they can do serious damage. NPC Only Ship Classes These types of ships are only ever seen being flown by NPCs, don't be a faggot and ask people "HOW I FLY BATTLESHIP" because you can't. So stop. Really. Battleships YOU CAN'T FUCKING FLY THEM. However, on occasion, you can have your ass handed to you by them. Battleships have high powered guns, shitloads of armor, but are the slowest things ever. Doesn't stop them from kicking your ass. Just be thankful they have a 1% chance of appearing. Liners Basically, Liner is to freighter what Battleship is to fighter. A large, heavy armorer transports of sorts, you'll find Liners wandering around pretty dust clouds and cool areas, pirate them for loot, or entertain them for cash. Hunters Imagine this: You're sitting at West Point, whacking off to pictures of Outcast women, when suddenly, battle music starts playing. Yet no ships are going crazy. Out of the blue comes a hunter ship, all the armor of a battleship, with the weaponry of a bomber and the speed of light fighter. These extremely tough, extremely rare ships drop amazing loot, provided you ever see one, let alone kill one.